Editorial: Mitt Romney's health care mirage seems designed to mislead

Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesRepublican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney delivers remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 10. Romney won the CPAc straw poll and the Maine caucuses today.

It seemed like big news on Sunday when Mitt Romney said he supports portions of Obamacare, especially the rule that requires insurers to sell coverage to those with pre-existing conditions like cancer or diabetes.

But later that night, the campaign issued a clarification: That would apply only to those who have had no interruption in their insurance coverage. That leaves roughly 90 million Americans, the number who have lost insurance for even brief periods, out of luck if they get sick.

Under Romney’s plan, insurers could still exclude them. In that case, they would likely have to pay for their own medical care until they fall into bankruptcy or become poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. And Romney intends to deeply cut Medicaid as well.

The dilemma for Romney is that the government cannot force insurers to cover sick people unless it also requires everyone to buy insurance for themselves. Without that mandate, a rational consumer could save money by going without insurance until the moment illness strikes. He or she could then insist that the insurer provide coverage.

So what would happen next? Insurers would not have the steady stream of income from premiums, but they would still be required to cover medical costs. To avoid bankruptcy, they would have no choice but to raise premiums, which would cause even more people to drop coverage.

Romney knows all about this vicious cycle. That’s why he included an individual mandate in his reform plan when he was governor of Massachusetts.

So now, he is again trying to have it both ways. He says on national TV that he supports the rule requiring insurers to cover everyone, a popular provision. Then his campaign issues a clarification at 10 p.m. that shrinks the promise dramatically.

Romney also said he supports the provision of Obamacare that allows families to keep children on their plan until the age of 26, and that is welcome.

It makes you wonder: When will he tell us what he’ll do about the roughly 50 million Americans who lack coverage altogether?